WO2016160065A1 - Réservation d'impression - Google Patents

Réservation d'impression Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2016160065A1
WO2016160065A1 PCT/US2015/056345 US2015056345W WO2016160065A1 WO 2016160065 A1 WO2016160065 A1 WO 2016160065A1 US 2015056345 W US2015056345 W US 2015056345W WO 2016160065 A1 WO2016160065 A1 WO 2016160065A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
print
printing
quota
request
subscription
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2015/056345
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Dhanendra Jain
Gurpreet Singh Bhatia
Kumaravel Ganesan
Ritesh Ranjan Jha
Puneet Kumar Arora
Original Assignee
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. filed Critical Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority to US15/544,684 priority Critical patent/US10185524B2/en
Publication of WO2016160065A1 publication Critical patent/WO2016160065A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1237—Print job management
    • G06F3/1239—Restricting the usage of resources, e.g. usage or user levels, credit limit, consumables, special fonts
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1202—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect
    • G06F3/1203—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
    • G06F3/1204—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1202—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect
    • G06F3/1203—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
    • G06F3/1205—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management resulting in increased flexibility in print job configuration, e.g. job settings, print requirements, job tickets
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1236—Connection management
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1237—Print job management
    • G06F3/1238—Secure printing, e.g. user identification, user rights for device usage, unallowed content, blanking portions or fields of a page, releasing held jobs
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1237—Print job management
    • G06F3/126—Job scheduling, e.g. queuing, determine appropriate device
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
    • G06F3/1237—Print job management
    • G06F3/1274—Deleting of print job
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
    • G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
    • G06F3/1278—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to adopt a particular infrastructure
    • G06F3/1285—Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server
    • G06F3/1288—Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server in client-server-printer device configuration

Definitions

  • print job may also be deployed over networks.
  • Users may use computing devices an associated applications to command a printer to print specific documents or other application content via a network.
  • the printer may be shared among multiple network users.
  • an intermediary print server may be .required to manage printing between users and printers.
  • a prim server may be a device that connects printers to client computers over a network. It accepts print jobs from the computers, sends the print jobs to the appropriate printers, and queues the print jobs locally to accommodate the fact that work may arrive more quickly than a printer can actually handle.
  • FIG. I is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for providing printing capabilities in accordance with an example of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a print server in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.
  • FIG, 3 illustrates a system for implementing cloud printing according to an example of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates scenarios of using printing applications for print reservation accordin to an example of the present disclosure.
  • F G. 5 is a screenshot of a print portal pro iding the print reservation service in accordance with an example of the present disclosure
  • (00091 TiG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a print server for providing print
  • FIG. 7 illustrates interactions among a print server, printers, and printing applications in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.
  • FIG, 8 is a block diagram illustrating computer readable medium storing instructions to provide print reservation according to an example of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. I is a schematic diagram of a system using a prin t server 102 for providing printing capabilities of printers to example user terminals 2 1 , 124, 134, 144 via a network 101 .
  • the print server 102 may be able to manage a plurality of printers, such as printers 113, 123 , 133,
  • the printer in FIG. 1 is a device thai may be utilized to print content on a physical medium, such as paper or a layer of powder-based, build material.
  • a printer may utilize the deposition of consumable fluids in a layer- wise additive manuiacturing process
  • a printer may utilize suitable consumable, such as ink, toner, fluids or powders, or other raw material for printing, in an example, the printer may be a three dimensional (3D) printer.
  • the raw material for 3D printing may include plastics, metals, nylon, glass-filled polyamide, epoxy resins, wax, and photopolymers, etc.
  • the network 101 may be the public Internet or other wide area public o private netw ork, or a combination thereof.
  • the network .1 1 may be a corporate or other intranet, and/or a smaller-scale, local or personal network, any of which (and/or combinations thereof) may be implemented using standard network technology.
  • the print server 102 may include a print subscription component 112 and a print reservation component 122.
  • the print server 102 may further include a connection maintaining component 132.
  • the print server 102 may further include a registration manager 14 and a print job manager 152.
  • “component” may refer to machine-readable instructions executable by a processor and stored on a machine-readable storage medium, for implementing respective functions.
  • the print subscription, component 1 12 may keep track of the following information for an enrollment of a print subscription user: number of pages consumed under a main quota of pages within a predetermined time period, and print consumption.
  • the print consumption may be cartridge ink consumption, toner consumption, etc.
  • the specific time period may be a month, half a year, or a year, or any other suitable period, which caa be set according to the option of the print subscription user.
  • the print subscription use may be a user that has subscribed the main quota of printing pages on the print server 102. Based, on the print consumption, it is able to know when to deiiver replacement of printing consumables to the print subscription user.
  • the print subscription component 1 12 may have the capability to block further printing on a printer if the main quota has been used up by the prin subscription user, without further payments for additional, quota. In other words, the amount of printouts of the print subscription user within a particular period of time may be limited.
  • the print reservation component 122 may utilize capabilities of the print server 102 to manage a sub-quota out of the main quota available to the print subscription user.
  • the sub-quota may be considered, as a reserved quota for scheduled, printing, in an example, the management may include creating a sub-quota for print reservation, modifying the sub-quota, and deleting the sub-quota.
  • the management may create the experience of reserving or blocking corresponding number of pages for the scheduled printing, such as specific print jobs or content, in an example, an external printing application may be allowed to subscribe to or unsubscribe from a print reservation service provided by the print server 102.
  • the printing application may use the print reservation component 1 2 to create, modify, or delete the sub- quota out of the main quota available to the print subscription user. For example, if the user cancels a specific printing, then the printing .application may delete the sub-quota so that the sub- quota may be freed up to be used for common purpose of the print subscription user.
  • the external printing application may be installed in a user terminal such as a notebook computer 114, a desktop computer 124, a tablet computing device 134, a smart phone 144, etc.
  • the printing application may be compatible with a. print subscription service and used to subscribe to a print reservation service over the print server 102, In an example, the printing application may supervise print requirements of the print subscription user.
  • connection maintaining component .132 may maintain connections for transmitting notifications and commands between the printers 1 13- 133 and the print server 102.
  • the connection may be a persistent connection such as an Extensible
  • XMPP Messaging and Presence Protocol
  • the registration manager .1 2 may manage the registration of a printer.
  • the registration manager 142 may create a prin ter ID and a printer key lor a printer when the printer registers to the print server .102 for providing a cloud print service.
  • the registration manager 1 2 may also allocate an email address for the printer during the registration process.
  • the cloud print service is a web service available to web- enabled, primers, for providing printing capabilities within the network 101. .
  • the pr int job manager 152 may manage print j obs of the plurali ty of printers, such as printers .1 13-133. receive a print job request from a user terminal, and deliver the prim job and content to be printed to a printer.
  • FIG . 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a print serv er 200 in accordance with an example of the present disclosure
  • the print server 200 may include a processor 201 , and a memory 202.
  • the processor 20.1 cart execute instructions within the print server 200, includin instructions stored in the memory 202,
  • the processor 201 may be implemented as a chipset of chip(s) that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors.
  • the memory 202 may store information within the print server 200.
  • the memory 202 is a volatile memory unit or units.
  • the memory 202 is a non-volatile memor unit or units.
  • the memor 202 may also be another form of computer- readable medium, such as a magnetic or optica! disk.
  • the memory 202 may store instructions executable by the processor
  • the instructions may include a print subscription, component 212 and a print reservation component 222.
  • the print subscription component 212 is to control, printing by a print subscription user according to a first printing quota associated with the print subscription user, in an.
  • the first printin quota may be a quota for printing consumable or raw material, in an.
  • the first printing quota may be a color printing quota or a mono printing quota, for printing, copying or scannin documents over a predetermined penod of time.
  • the first printing quota may be a printer page-count quota.
  • print subscription may be subscription for ink, toner, or other marking agent such, as charcoal or chalk, or other printing consumable, or raw material for 3D printing.
  • the pri t subscription user may be a user that is subscribed to a print subscription service.
  • the first printing quota may be a main quota related to the print subscription service
  • the second printing quote may be a sub- quota of the main quota or a reserved portion of the main quota related to the print reservation service.
  • the print reservation component 222 is to reserve a second printing quota from the first printing quota for scheduled printing.
  • the scheduled printing may be a print job scheduled by the print subscription user to be completed by use of a dedicated quota reserved from the main quota, as distinguished from common printing tasks not associated with a dedicated quota reserved from the main quota.
  • the scheduled printing may be determined in advance to be completed at a preset time period, in. the future.
  • the print subscription user may hav the discretion to designate the scheduled printing, and the scheduled printing may be assigned a print reservation identity (or "print reservation ID" herein) by the print server 200.
  • the print reservation ID is an ID associated with, the second printing quota in the system
  • the second printing quota may be a subset of tire first printin quota.
  • the first printing quote is 200 pages per month, while the second printing quote is 50 pages within the month, in this way enough pages may be allocated beforehand for the scheduled printing, thereby guaranteeing a print for a. targeted future print request.
  • the first or second printing quota may be presented in another form, such as amount of ink consumed.
  • the print reservation component 222 may receive a request to
  • the request to subscribe may include a print subscription identity allocated to tire print subscription user.
  • the prim reservation component 222 may allocate a print reservation ID for the print subscription user in response to the determination that the print subscription user has the authorization to subscribe to the print reservation service, and record a subscription to the print reservation service for the print subscription user.
  • the print reservation component 222 is to acquire an application identity (or "application ID" herein) from the request to subscribe, and compare the application ID with a prestored list of authorized, application identities.
  • the application ID is an ID for indicating a printing application issuing the request to subscribe. Accordingly, the print reservation component 222 may determine that, the print subscription user has the authorization to subscribe to the print reservation service when the application ID is within the list.
  • the print reservation component 222 is to receive a request for creating a quota for the print reservation service, and reserve the second printing quota for the scheduled printing after determining that the print reservation ID has subscribed to the print reservation sendee.
  • the print reservation ID and ihe second printing quota may be carried within the request for creating the quota.
  • the print server 200 may store the relation between tire print reservation ID and the second printing quota.
  • the print reservation component 222 is to receive a request for modifying a quota for the print reservation service, wherein the request for modifying the quota includes the prim reservation ID and the second printing quota, and update the value of the second printing quota previously recorded in the print server 200,
  • the print reservation component 222 may recei ve a request for deleting a quota for the print reservation service.
  • the request for deleting the quota may include the print reservation ID,
  • the print reservation component 222 may delete the second printing quota for the print reservation ID according to the request for deleting the quota.
  • the print reservation component 222 is to: receive a request, for unsubscribing from the print reservation service, wherein the request for unsubscribing includes the print reservatio ID; and remove the subscription of the print reservation service for the print reservation ID.
  • the instructions further include; a connection maintaining component 232.
  • the print subscription component 212 is to receive content to be printed when a condition for the scheduled printing is satisfied, trigger a printer via the connection maintaining component 232 to print the content, and subtract the amount of quota corresponding to the content from the second printing quota, hi an example, the condition may be a predetermined time point for the scheduled printing.
  • the print subscription component 212 may use the second printing quota in response to a determination that the received content is scheduled printing content, in an example, the print subscription component 212 may determine whether a prin request received has a print reservation ID.
  • the print request may be regarded as related to the print reservation service, and the received content may be printed using the second printing quota associated with the print reservation ID.
  • the print subscription component 212 ma detect whether the print request has an application ID associated with the second printing quota, and regard that the content for the print request may he printed using the second printing quota In response to the determination that there is the application ID in the print request.
  • the scheduled printing may be content to be printed, on a day and time that a print subscription user chooses.
  • the scheduled printing may be a newspaper printable or daily puzzle, scheduled to be printed automatically from Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.
  • Daily delivery of the content for the scheduled printing from a printing application to the print server 200 may be set up at a certain time. Accordingly, users can manage printing based on their habits and preferences, and prioritize their prints and get assurance of priming what they think is important to them, in an example, the scheduled printing- may be designated in a web calendar or desktop calendar.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a system for implementing cloud printing according to an example of the present disclosure.
  • the system includes a cloud print server 301 , a cloud-aware printer 302, and printing applications 303 available by users, in an example, the printing applications 303 may be such as a dedicated scheduled printing 313, a web calendar 323, and a -print portal 333 installed on the user terminals 1 14-144 illustrated in FIG. 1.
  • the cloud-aware printer 302 may communicate with the cloud print server 301 over the network 101.
  • the term “cloud” or “cloud-aware” may refer to the use of “cloud computing”.
  • the cloud computing may include a style of computing in which computing resources such as- application programs and file storage are remotely provided over a network such as the Internet, typically through a web browser.
  • the cloud print server 3 1 is to create a cloud print sen-ice, allowing cloud-print-aware applications, either web, desktop, or mobile, stored on a device in the network cloud to print to a printer.
  • APIs application -programming interfaces
  • the cloud print server 301 includes an ink subscription service 31 1 , a pri nt reservation service 321 , an M.PP server 331 , a job de livery service 341 , a job execution framework 351 , an email gateway 361, and a database 371. While examples are described here in relation to ink, other examples may make subscription or reservation to other printing
  • consumables e.g., toner, 3D raw material, etc.
  • the ink subscription service 31 1 may allow users to buy number of pages which they can print for a period of time.
  • the ink subscription service 3 i 1 may monitor the ink level in users' printers. When the ink level in a printer goes below a predetermined threshold, replacement ink may be sent to the corresponding user. In this way. it may be ensured that the user will not run out of ink.
  • the ink subscription service 31 1 may monitor the number of pages printed on a printer after the user has subscribed for a plan. Once the user has printed subscribed number of pages, the printer may stop printing unless the user makes supplemental subscription.
  • ink subscription service 31 1 users may not have to face trivial bottlenecks, such as ink replacement, degradation of print-quality if one of ink cartridges gets emptied, or unable to figure out cosMo-print, When the ink
  • a mo thly fee may be paid to print a defined number, of pages per month.
  • the plan may be based on the number of pages thai is primed, or based OR how many ink cartridges used.
  • the print reservation service 3:21 may provide control, on: wben-to ⁇ print, what ⁇ to-prin.t, and how-much-to-print.
  • the when-to-print function may he used for controlling wheiher a user wants to scheditie the printing for one time or periodically.
  • ⁇ fee what-to-print function may be used for controlling the content to foe printed.
  • the content may be such as photocopy, documents attached to a calendar, documents specified in a dedicated scheduled printing 313, or documents shared by a white-listed partner or third party.
  • the how-much-to ⁇ priut may be used to enable an ink subscription user to control the number of pages which could be printed, under various flows, such as a child safety lock, a white-list lock, a dedicated scheduled, printing, a priority document printing, a calendar based printing, or a third party printing.
  • the print reservation service 321 may provide utilization of limited pages assigned in a month as per habits and preferences of users.
  • a user ma give presentations a lot and want to get all. related .notes printed on scheduled time.
  • the user may manage the printing by creating a calendar event for the presentations and the attached notes, so that the data may be printed before presentation.
  • the print l servation sen-ice 321 the presentations of the user can be managed effectively and efficiently, and the user does not need to worry about, tracking and managing the data printing. That is, the print, reservation service 32 i may assure that printing will happen on specified time for critical documents.
  • the XMPP server 331 may maintain a persistent connection to printers
  • the XMPP server 331 may enable real time communication between components of the cloud print server 30.1 and the printers 302, Print job notifications and controls are sent from the cloud, print server 301 to the printers 302 over the connection.
  • the printer 302 may also send events like Low-On-Ink (LOI) to the cloud print server 301 over the connection.
  • LOI Low-On-Ink
  • the job deli ery service 34! may provide APIs for the printer 302- to register to the cloud print, server 30.1 .
  • the job delivery service 341 may also take care of delivering content rendered by a user to the printer 302,
  • a Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP
  • HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
  • the job execution framework (JEF) 351 may take care of getting a document rendered, sending a job notification to the printer 302, or monitoring the status of a print: job on the printer 302 etc., once the print job is accepted by the email, gateway 36 ! .
  • the JEF 351 may use an XMP.P connection for communicating with the printer 302.
  • the email, gateway 36.1 may provide APIs for submitting and managing prim jobs for a. user terminal, suc as scanning a book, photocopying a document, or printing a drawing.
  • the print jobs can be sent from the user terminal to a printer by sending an email with attachments to an email address of the printer.
  • Printing applications 303 such as the dedicated scheduled printing 313 may use the email gateway 361 to transmit the print jobs to the printer 302 via the cloud print server 301.
  • the database 371 may store printer related information for the cloud print server 301.
  • the printer related information may be printer capabilities sent from the printer
  • the print capabilities may define how documents for the printer 302 may be rendered and delivered.
  • the print capabilities may also define paper size, coior or black & white printing, etc.
  • an ink subscription user may initiate an external printing application
  • the printing application 303 can. manipulate the sub-quota out of the main quot by creating a new sub-quota, modifying an existing sub-quota, or deleting an existing sub-quota. These are capabilities capable of bein used by end users to create experience expected by the users.
  • the ink subscriptio user may sign-up for the dedicated scheduled printing 313, which could trigger the dedicated scheduled, printing 313 to create a sub-quota for scheduled printing.
  • the dedicated scheduled printing 313 may create the sub-quota by first subscribing for print reservation over the cloud print server 301 .
  • the dedicated scheduled printing 313 may consume capabilities provided by the print reservation service 32.1 to reserve a portion of pages from the subscribed fixed number of pages for printing expected documents under scheduled printing.
  • the dedicated scheduled printing 313 may remove the sub-quota previously created and unsubscribe from the print reservation service 321 over the cloud print server 301.
  • a user may enjoy solving a certain type of puzzle.
  • the user may set scheduled printing under the dedicated, scheduled, printing 313, and avoid manually track and management of preferential printing for the puzzle.
  • the dedicated scheduled printing 313 can calculate approximate pages required for the puzzles print over the month. [0048 ⁇
  • the web calendar 323 may want to block pages for scheduled printing of documents, which the ink subscription user may have attached under a scheduled calendar event.
  • the web calendar 323 can. calculate approximate number of pages required, for printing a document attached with the caieodar event.
  • Other time management application may be used for the scheduled printing, such as a desktop calendar.
  • the print portal 333 may be use for registering and managing information about printers and print jobs.
  • the information includes an email address, printer preferences, and status for print jobs of a printer.
  • the print portal 333 may be a website provided by the cloud print server 30.1 .
  • FIG. 4 illustrates scenarios of using printing applications for print reservation.
  • component 222 shown in FIG, 2 may expose print reservation APIs 421 accessible to printing applications.
  • the print reservation APIs 42 1 may include
  • the PriatSubscriptionID may be a parameter indicating an identity allocated to users when they subscribe to a print subscription service.
  • the SubscribeForQuota API may have a form of
  • SubscrioeForQuota (Pri.ntSubscriptionlD, Appl ' D).
  • the ApplD may be an application ID of a printing application initiating the subscription of the print reservation sendee.
  • the print reservation APIs 421 may enable the printing applications to create and manipulate sub-quotas out of main, quotas. That is, the printing applications on top of a prim subscription platform 41 1 can use the print reservation APIs 421 to create the sub-quota out of the main quota assigned to the print subscription user.
  • the UnsubscribeFromQuoia API may be used by a printing application such as a web calendar, which, wants to discontinue usage of the print reservation, service for the print subscription user.
  • the printing application can remove or end the association b sharing the print reservation ID to the print sewer through the L isubse ibeFroniQuota API.
  • the unused amount of the sub-quota associated with the print reservation ID may be released to the main quota.
  • the CreateQuota API, the ModifyQuota API, the DeleteQuota API can be used by the printing application to manipulate the sub-quota out of the main quota, and associate the sub-quota with the specific print reservation I ' D. [0052 ⁇ Details required for the pruning applications to be eligible for subscription may be provided during the usage of the prim reservatio APIs 421.
  • the priming applications may include a scheduled print service 413, a third party print 423, and a print portal 433.
  • the scheduled print service 413 may be a printing application offered by providers of a cloud print service or a print subscription sen- ice.
  • the third party print 423 may be a print application offered by providers mdependeni.of the cloud, print service, such as other app Ilea tion pro iders.
  • the scheduled print service 13 may use the S bscribeForQuota API to subscribe to the print reservation service for the print subscription user. Then, number of pages needed to allocate for printing a certain type of content (e.g., a given type of puzzle) can be reserved by the scheduled print service 413 using the CreateQuota API. Using the
  • the scheduled print service 413 may control print behaviors as per users' choices.
  • the scheduled print service 413 may provide printable content to the print subscription platform 41 1
  • a user can schedule the printing of unsolved puzzles one-time or on daily, weekly or on custom days of week.
  • number of pages needed to allocate for document print can also he reserved by the third party print 423 using the print reservation APIs 421.
  • an education institution web site may share scheduled lecture notes and assignments to the third, party print 423 of a print subscription user. Then, the lecture notes may be printed usin the sub- quota reserved by the print subscription user.
  • the print portal 433 may be used in cases where print subscription users require critical documents or documents to meet a deadline to be printed in times to come. For example, in a fami ly , a child may want to print for either school-assignments or just for fun.
  • FIG. 5 is a screenshot of a print, portal providing, the print reservation service to a user terminal in. accordance with an. example of the present, disclosure.
  • the print portal may include a graphical user interface (GUI) for presenting the first printing quota and ihe second printing quota.
  • GUI graphical user interface
  • th graphical user interface of the print portal is shown in FIG. 5, presenting information of the print subscription service. For example, it is shown in FIG. 5 that 50 pages are subscribed, and 18 of the SO pages are reserved for scheduled printing.
  • the cloud printing platform may include a plurality of print servers.
  • the printing method may be an end-to-end solution called print reservation, which takes leverage of a print subscription platform and other print, services available under the cloud print service.
  • the printing method can allocate, control and manipulate a subset of pages out of a main quota assigned to a user for a given time cycle unde a print subscription service.
  • FIG . 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of implementations of a print service.
  • the method may be implemented by a computer, such as a print server, for providing print reservation.
  • a .first printing quota subscribed by a print subscription user may ⁇ be recorded in the print server.
  • the first printing quota may be the maximum quota for printing subscribed within a predetermined period.
  • a request to subscribe to a print reservation service is received.
  • a second printing quota from the first printing quota for scheduled printing may be reserved. That is, the second printing quota is dedicated for designated printing.
  • the request to subscribe may include a print subscription identity .
  • the print server may allocate a print reservation ID for the print subscription user in response to the determination that the print subscription user has the authorization to subscribe to the print reservation service.
  • the request, to subscribe may further include an application I ' D of a printing application initiating the request to subscribe.
  • the print server may acquire the application ID from the request to subscribe, and compare the application ID with a prestored list of authorized, application identities. Thereafter, it is determined that, the print subscription user has the authorization when the application ID is within the prestored list,
  • the print server may receive a request for creating a quota for the print reservation service.
  • the request for creating the quota includes a print reservation ID and the • amount of the second printing quota (e.g., number of pages).
  • the print server may reserve the second printing quota (from the first printing quota) for the scheduled printing after determining that the prim reservation I ' D has subscribed to the print reservation service.
  • the second printing quot may be associated with the print reservation I ' D and/or the application ID.
  • the print server may subtract the amount of the second printing quota from the first printing quota to get a remaining printing quota, and track the remaining printing quota for general printing.
  • the general printing may refer to other printing tasks of the print subscription user different from the scheduled printing,
  • the print server may receive a print request including content to be printed, and determine whether the print request relates to the scheduled printing associated with the print reservation service.
  • the print request may include a print reservation I ' D and/or an application I ' D, to indicate that this print relates to the print reservation service, and is to use a specific sub-quota previously created and associated with the print reservation ID and/or application i ' D, in an example, different print reservation IDs or application IDs may identify different sub-quotas.
  • the prim server may instruct the printer to print the content, and subtract the amount of quota corresponding to the content f om the second printing quota.
  • Thai is, based on the application I ' D and/or print reservation ID included, in the print request, the print server may fig ure out that the content of the print request be printed by use of the second printin quota. After the printing, the print server may subtract a certain amount from the second printing quota, to record the consumption of the seco nd printi ng quota.
  • the print server may determine that this print is to use the remaining printing quota (i.e., the portion of the quota not reserved in any sob-quota). In an example, the determination i made by the print subscription component.
  • the print server may instruct a printer to print the content, and subtract the amount of quota corresponding to the content from the remaining printing quota.
  • the remaining printing quota is the difference between the first printing quota and any other sub-quotas, such as the second printing quota in this example.
  • the request to subscribe to the prmt reservation sen- ice is received from a printing application selected from the group including a scheduled print application, a third party print application, and a print portal
  • the third party print application may be a time management application such as a web calendar appiicatioa, or a desktop calendar application.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates interactions among the prim server 30.1 , the printer 302, and the printing application 303 shown in FIG, 3 in accordance with an example of the present
  • the interaction is to reserve pages for the printing application 303 over a print reservation ID.
  • tire printing application 303 may get the print reservation ID for ftsrther communication with the print server 301 (blocks 701-702), in an example, the print reservation ID ma be allocated and recognized by the print server 301.
  • the printing application 303 may calculate approximate pages required to reserve for the scheduled printing asked by the print subscription user (block 704).
  • the printing application 303 may request the print server 3 1 to create a sub-quota for the print reservation ID (block 705).
  • the request for creating the sub-quota may include the print reservation ID and the sub-quota calculated.
  • the print server 30.1 may reserve the sub-quota.
  • the printing application 303 may start using it for the scheduled printing expected by the print subscription user, in an example, when a condition for the scheduled printing is met, the printing application 303 may request the print server 301 to accomplish the scheduled printing (blocks 707-708), such as via a print request.
  • the condition may be a certain time set beforehand for the scheduled printing, such as from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. every Monday.
  • the printing application 303 may provide, to the print serve 301, an application I ' D identifying the printing application 303 or a print reservation ID identifying the quota, reserved for the printing application 303, either in the print request or associated with the print request.
  • the prin request may be an email, and a header of the email, may specify the application ID of the printing application 303 or the print reservation ID, in response to the print request, the print server 301 ma determine that, the print request is associated with (e.g., includes) an application ID or a print reservation ID and in. response, may instruct the printer 302 to use the sub-quota associated with the application ID or print reservation ID to print the scheduled printing content (blocks 709-710).
  • the value of the sub- quota associated with the application ID or print reservation ID may decrease after each scheduled printing, indicating that corresponding amount of quota is consumed. Further, the printing application 303 may modify the sub-quota, or delete the sub-quot when the print subscription user wants to discontinue, and unsubscribe itself from the print reservation service. j ⁇ M)64
  • the print subscription ID may be 'tJserASubseriptionlD.
  • User A may be allowed to use 'TIserASubscripiiaalD" to print at -most 100 pages every month through a registered printer.
  • user A may subscribe to a print reservation service by use of the print subscription ID, and be allocated a print reservation ID for further usage.
  • user A may create an entry on a web calendar, and attach a document with 5 pages for scheduled printing.
  • the web calendar may request user A to input the prin sisbscription ID, and request a print reservation platform to allow using the prim reservation service.
  • the web calendar may set an event for monitoring when the time ior the scheduled printing may arrive.
  • the event may be periodic or have a one-time event trigger, in an example, the web calendar may make a call to a print server via a
  • the Su.bscribeForQuota API may include "UserASubseriptionlD" and an application ID of the web calendar.
  • the application ID of the web eaiendar raay be "WebCallD”.
  • the print server may check whether the web calendar can use the print reservation service.
  • the print server may store a list of application IDs authorised for subscribing to the print reservation service. Accordingly, when the print server determines that the web calendar has the authorization to use the print reservation service according to "WebCallD", the print server may generate a print reservation ID for user A.
  • the pri t reservation ID is unique for indicating a subscription of the print reservation service of user A.
  • the print reservation ID of user A may be UserAWebCalPrintResiD,
  • the web calendar may ha ve rights to designate a sub-quota out of the main quota of 100 pages. Specifically, the web calendar may make another call to the print server via a CreateQuota API.
  • a format of the CreateQuota API may be CreateQuota APK5, UserAWebCalPrintResiD), This may create a sub-quota of 5 pages out of 100, which is associated with a scheduled printing through the web calendar having the application ID "WebCallD".
  • the association among the sub-quota of 5 pages, and any of the application ID and the print reservation ID may be recorded in the print server.
  • the web calendar may initiate a print request to the print server, including the print reservation ID of user A aftd'Or the application. ID of the web calendar.
  • the print server may identif the print request triggered by die web calendar. Also, based on the print reservation ID or application ID associated with the print request, the print server may identify the sub-quota with which the print request is associated (e.g., the quota associated with "UserAWebCalPrintResiD" or "WebCallD"), and reduce that sub-quota of 5 to 0 once printing is done successfully (e.g., reduce the sub-quota associated with UserAWebCalPrintReslD or WebCailD from 5 to 0).
  • the sub-quota with which the print request is associated e.g., the quota associated with "UserAWebCalPrintResiD" or "WebCallD”
  • TSie RoverApp may request the print server to allow using the print reservation service.
  • the RoverApp may request user A to share the print subscription ID. and then request the print server by making a call via a SubscribeForQuota API.
  • the SubscribeForQuota API may include parameters such as "UserASubscriptionlD" and an application ID of the RoverApp.
  • the application ID of the RoverApp may be "RoverAppID" .
  • the print server may check whether the RoverApp can use the print reservation, service or not.
  • the print server may generate a unique print reservation ID for the subscription, in an example, the print reservation ID may be Use ARoverAppPrintResID.
  • the print reservation ID may be Use ARoverAppPrintResID.
  • different print reservation IDs such as UserAWebCalPrintReslD and UserARoverAppPrintResID, may refer to different scheduled printing subscriptions to the print reservation, service, and have different sub-quotas.
  • the RoverApp may have rights to make a sub-quota out of the mam quota of 95 pages.
  • the main quot has been changed from 100 pages to 95 pages because 5 pages have already been allocated to the web calendar.
  • the RoverApp may make another call, to the print server via a CreateQuota API.
  • the CreateQuota API may have a form of CreateQuota(30, UserARoverAppPrintResID). This procedure may create a sub-quota of 30 pages out of the 95 pages remained.
  • the sub-quota of 30 pages is associated with scheduled printing through the RoverApp.
  • the print server may store the relation between UserARoverAppPrintResID and the sub-quota of 30 pages.
  • the relation among UserARoverAppPrintResID, the sub-quota of 30 pages, and RoverAppID may be saved on the print server for the scheduled printing.
  • the relation between the sub- quota of 30 pages and RoverAppID may be saved.
  • the RoverApp may initiate a print request every day for printing the puzzle.
  • the print server may identify the print request triggered by the RoverApp according to the application ID of the Rover App included in the print request. In this way, anonymous print request ma not be handled by the print server to improve safety of cloud printing, for example.
  • FIG, S is a block diagram illustratin computer readable medium 801 storing instructions 8.1 .5 to provide print reservation according to an example of the present disclosure, in an example, the instructions 81 1 can be read by a processor 812 within a computing device 802 to perform part or ail of the operations described in such as FIGS. 1-7.
  • the computer readable medium 801. may be a magnetic disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile or non-transitory solid state memory devices,
  • the instructions 81 1 may be to cause the processor 812 to: control printing by a print subscription user according to a first printing quota associated with the print subscription user, and reserve a second printing quota from the first printing quota for scheduled printing.
  • the instructions 811. may be to cause the processor 81.2 to: receive a request to subscribe to a print reservation service, the request to subscribe including a print subscription identity of the print subscription user; allocate a print reservation ID for the print subscription user in response to the determination that the print subscription user has the authorization to subscribe to the print reservation service; and record a subscription to the print • reservation service for the print, subscription user.
  • the instructions 81 1 may be to cause the processor 812 to: receive a request for creating a quota for the print reservation, service, the request for creating the quota including the print reservation ID and the second printing quota; and reserve the second printing quota for the scheduled printing a fter determining that the print reservation ID has subscribed to the print reservation service.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)

Abstract

Selon l'invention, un serveur d'impression peut comprendre un processeur, une mémoire et des instructions stockées sur la mémoire et exécutables par le processeur. Selon un exemple, les instructions peuvent comprendre : un composant d'abonnement d'impression pour commander une impression par un utilisateur d'abonnement d'impression en fonction d'un premier quota d'impression associé à l'utilisateur d'abonnement d'impression, et un composant de réservation d'impression pour réserver un second quota d'impression dans le premier quota d'impression pour une impression programmée.
PCT/US2015/056345 2015-03-31 2015-10-20 Réservation d'impression WO2016160065A1 (fr)

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